Victory Day

Victory Day

(Prazdnik Pobedy), a holiday celebrated by all the peoples of the USSR. It is held every year on May 9 to mark the Soviet people’s victory over fascist Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45.

Victory Day was established by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on May 8, 1945. A decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on Apr. 26, 1965, proclaimed it an official holiday. On Victory Day the minister of defense of the USSR issues the traditional proclamation, and artillery salutes are fired in the capital of the USSR— the hero-city Moscow—and the capitals of the Union republics, the hero-cities, the hero-fortress of Brest, and the cities of Murmansk, Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk, and Vladivostok.

Victory Day (Our Lady of Victories Day)

September 8

This national holiday in Malta celebrates the lifting of two sieges:In 1565, the Hospitallers, or the Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, with 6,000-9,000 men, held Malta against a four-month siege by some 29,000 Ottoman Turks. The onslaught left half the knights dead, but the Turks didn't fare well either—the knights used the heads of Turkish captives as cannonballs, and the defeat of the Turks humbled the Ottoman Empire. (Malta was under the control of the knights, a religious and military order of the Roman Catholic Church dedicated to tending the sick and poor and warring against Muslims, from 1530 until June 1798, when Napoleon took possession of the island.)During World War II, the island fought off Axis powers (Germany and Italy) despite three years of severe air bombardment. In April 1942, air-raid alerts averaged about 10 a day; the ruins included the Royal Opera House in Valletta, destroyed by a German bomb. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called Malta "our only unsinkable aircraft carrier."On April 15, 1942, England's King George VI awarded the island of Malta the George Cross, Britain's highest decoration for civilian gallantry, to "honour her brave people ... to bear witness to a heroism and devotion which will long be famous in history." This was the first time a medal was conferred on any part of the commonwealth. At this time, Britain also declared that self-government would be restored at the end of hostilities.The holiday is celebrated with parades, fireworks, and a colorful regatta and boat races in the Grand Harbour at Valletta. A highlight of the boat races is that of the dgnajsas, oared taxi boats with painted designs. They are thought to date back to Phoenician times (800 b.c.e.).See alsoMalta Independence Day

Victory Day is a national public holiday in the Russian Federation. It celebrates the defeat of Nazism and the end of World War II on European soil. On this day people remember the 27 million Russian civilians and soldiers who perished during the war. Each year on May 9 people crowd Moscow's Red Square for solemn rites of remembrance—one minute of silence and cannon or gun salutes—as well as traditional musical and dance performances. Veterans may attend wearing their uniforms and medals. Many leave flowers at memorials and graves. TV stations often air films about World War II.

He also thanked the efforts of the Sultanate and recognised Oman as a friendly country, "I am honoured and privileged to welcome you all to the celebration of our 30th August Victory Day, in this friendly country of the Sultanate of Oman with which we are bound with strong ties of centuries old relationship of fraternity and cooperation.

After a decade of subtler celebrations in the 1990s, a period when the country's leaders hoped to tamp down Soviet-era traditions, the traditional Victory Day pomp and circumstance returned in full force when Putin came to power.

The lifting of sanctions and restoration of diplomatic relations with Russia, over the ongoing Ukrainian crisis, may take time but the first step could have been taken along the sidelines of the significant Victory Day celebrations.

Following the Victory Day celebrations, Al-Sisi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and officially invited him to attend the inauguration of the New Suez Canal Project, expected to be held in August.

Left, a tornado passes near |Halstead, Kansas, as a swathe of the Great Plains is under a tornado watch, including North Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska; below, Charmaine Foraker looks at her family's farmstead near Bentley, Kansas, destroyed by a tornado on Wednesday | Serbian army soldiers march along Red Square in Mos-|cow, Russia, during a general rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade which will take place in Red Square today to celebrate 70 years after VE Day in World War II Nepalese soldiers prepare to board one of the US Ospreys used to deploy them in the quake-affected mountain-|ous areas in Manthali yesterday BERNAT ARMANGUE

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